


On This Winter Night

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: M/M, PWP, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-01-01
Updated: 2002-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-01 07:56:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/354061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a chill out.<br/>This is another story in the Peaceladenverse, but it's a pre-'Peaceladen,' pre-slash story.  The title comes from a Gordon Lightfoot song, "Song for a Winter's Night" (don't fear, though, it's not a songfic!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	On This Winter Night

## On This Winter Night

by JainieG

<http://www.mizjain.org>

* * *

It was so long ago. Too long ago. Christmas time. Christmas Eve, to be exact. A clean, white cover of snow had blanketed the entirety of Smallville. 

Clark Kent trudged his way up the hill where Castle Luthor sat in wait; smugly, like a king receiving his humbled courtiers. With a layer of snow sparkling on the surrounding grounds and the roof, the place looked far more welcoming than Clark had ever seen it before. 

He'd been tempted to use his enhanced speed to get him to Lex's place more quickly, but thought better of it when he heard the sound of his father's voice in his head telling him he might slip on a patch of ice on the road and hurt someone. 

So, at a normal, human pace, Clark jogged up to the house and pressed the doorbell. 

He could remember the conversation he'd had with Lex two weeks before. 

Clark had bumped into him outside what used to be Tina's mother's antique store. Clark's own mother was on safari in town for a present for his dad and had left him to his own devices. She might have been a simple farmer, but Martha Kent fell back on her Metropolitan instincts when it came to shopping. 

Clark tugged the muffler protecting his face from the bite of the cold out of the way. "Lex, hi!" he said breathlessly and smiled. 

"Hey, Clark. Fancy meeting you here," Lex said, returning the smile. "Your mom shopping?" 

"Oh, yeah. My dad wants this part for his bike and my mom ordered it from the hardware store." Clark rubbed his gloved hands together as he regarded Lex. Lex was wearing a full-length black coat, but wore neither a hat nor a scarf of any kind. Clark couldn't tell if he was wearing gloves, though, because Lex's hands were stuffed into his pockets. "Aren't you cold?" he asked, lifting his hand to indicate Lex's bald, bare skull. 

"Uhh, yeah. Freezing, actually," he nodded stiffly, shoulders shrugged up to his ears, as if to keep them warm. His nose was red and his skin had taken on an ashen tone, his cheeks tinted with a pinkish-blue flush. "It never got this cold in Metropolis. How can you stand it?" 

"Lived here all my life, remember?" Clark chuckled. "And, besides, Metropolis has all those tall buildings and stuff. That's probably why it didn't get as cold there in the winter time." There was no reply from Lex at that, and Clark found himself casting about for something to say, something to ask to help keep the conversation going. "So, uh... I guess you'll probably be going on a trip someplace tropical while the rest of us stay here. Or - oh, I know - I bet you're probably going to meet your dad and the two of you could go together?" 

"I'm not going anywhere, Clark," Lex said quietly. "I'm staying here." 

"He is coming to see you, though... right? I mean, it's almost Christmas." Clark said, brows furrowing. 

"No... Daddy dearest is off to Japan this week," he replied with a thin, false smile. "He's been looking into the technology over there because he's thinking of investing a few million." 

"Well, how long is he staying? He's gonna be back by Christmas Eve. He's gotta be!" By now, Clark was just this side of incredulous. 

"He's staying until the end of January," Lex stated, words as crisp as the ice and snow crunching beneath their shuffling feet. 

"Oh. God, Lex, I'm... I'm sorry." Clark's shoulders sagged. To think that Mr. Luthor would leave his son alone on Christmas was just unfathomable to him. 

He and his own family had always had their traditions for Christmas and, in his naivete, he was certain that everyone else's families did the same. As far back as he could remember there'd been floating Kent family gatherings that moved from house to house. One year it would be at his grandma's, the next year it might be at a cousin's, who he had never even met before. But they were still family and they would enjoy the holiday together. 

"Ahh, don't worry about it, Clark. It's not your fault. It's just business." 

"No, you're wrong. It's family. Christmas is about family. He should be there with you," Clark blurted out, frowning. 

"Not everybody can have a big family Christmas like they show on television, Clark," Lex ground out, turning his narrowed eyes away from Clark's. "It just doesn't work like that. Whether people are dead broke - like those additional two thousand workers my father made me let go, just two weeks before Christmas - and living in cardboard boxes or whether they live in a house that was moved stone by stone." 

"Lex... I'm sorry, I didn't mean --" 

"Yeah, I know, Clark. I know you 'didn't mean'." He sighed. "I've gotta go. It's too cold out here. I'll see you later." 

Before Clark even had a chance to open his mouth to protest, Lex was making his way down the sidewalk, shoulders hunched as he tried to protect himself from the cutting gusts of winter wind that shot down the main street. 

Clark cursed himself silently for being so nosy as he watched Lex's retreating back. His father told him that he had acquired his mother's gift for being a well-meaning busybody and after his talk with Lex he could see how right his father was. 

* * *

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Clark waited for someone to answer the door. It was getting close to nightfall and his parents would be angry with him if he stayed out after dark, especially when the nights were so cold and unforgiving. 

Finally, he heard the hollow, metallic sounds of bolts as they were unlocked from inside and the door slowly creaked open. Through the small crack in the door, all Clark could make out was darkness. Then, a round, pale face slid through the dark, parting it. 

"Clark. What are you doing here?" Lex asked quietly. There was no hint of anger or hurt in his voice, merely curiosity. 

"I, um... I came to give you this." Clark's long, cold fingers fumbled with the buttons of his coat, opening them. He reached inside and pulled out a small, lumpy package. 

Wrapped with bright red paper covered with gold bells and sprigs of holly and tied with a matching gold ribbon that came together in a neat bow on the top. He extended his arm, held the present out to Lex hesitantly. 

"What is it?" He said, pushing the door open a bit wider as he reached out to take the gift. 

"It's for you, but don't open it now. Wait until Christmas, okay?" Clark worried at his bottom lip. "There's a card, too. Inside." 

Turning the gift over in his hands, the expression on Lex's face was one of astonishment and... joy. Lex cleared his throat gruffly before speaking. 

"I don't see one of those stickers on it. You know, 'Don't Open until Christmas'." He said with a wry grin, holding up the present. "So that means I could actually open it before Christmas." 

"I guess so," Clark chuckled. "But don't open it yet. At least wait until I'm gone before you open it? Please?" 

"Okay. Since you said 'please'..." Still smirking, Lex held the present to his chest, both arms wrapped around it almost protectively as he stepped to one side. "Do you maybe want to come in for a while and get warm? I could have Darian make you some hot chocolate?" 

"Oh, no, I..." Clark began, but as Lex stepped aside, for a moment, Clark's eyes remained fixed on the place where he'd been standing and he caught a glimpse of the inside of the place. 

Dark. Although he'd seen a couple of lights on upstairs as he approached. Dark and empty. He could not pick out a tree-shaped shadow from amongst all the others behind Lex. No Christmas tree and there were no decorations of any sort, either inside the house or outside. For all Clark knew, this would be just another night in a cold, empty castle for Lex Luthor. 

"Sure. I'd love to," he murmured with a smile as he mounted the steps up to the landing and passed through the door. 

A warm smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Lex held the door open so Clark could pass through, shutting it behind them. Darien, a tall, slender man dressed in black, glided silently behind the two of them and divested Clark of his coat, scarf and gloves and hung them up on the hall tree by the door. 

"Darien. Hot chocolate and brandy, in the study, please," Lex said as he made his way up the stairs leading to the second floor. Darien nodded agreeably and drifted back into the shadows, bound for the kitchen. 

They went upstairs to the study, where a fire was crackling in the hearth. There were papers scattered all over Lex's desk and the desk lamp was on. 

"You were working? Tonight?" Clark asked softly, lingering by the desk. 

"Yeah, Clark. If I don't work, Luthor Corp doesn't make any money, and people - more people - will lose their jobs - and my father hates that. The losing money part, that is. He doesn't give a damn if we fire another 5,000 workers." Lex switched the desk lamp off. With his free hand, he rubbed at the back of his neck, still clutching the present to his chest. He took a seat in the leather armchair by the fire. 

"Sorry. I guess I'm bothering you. You're busy. I -- I can go if you want me to," he offered, backing up towards the door. 

"No, Clark. Stay. Stay with me a while. I'm sorry I'm so pissy. I've been at it all day." Lex sounded tired, looked tired. 

Clark let out a startled grunt as the study door opened and bumped against his backside, causing him to lurch forward. 

"Oh! My apologies, sir," Darien said evenly. "I didn't see you there! I didn't hurt you, sir, did I?" 

"Oh, no, no. I'm sorry. My fault," Clark said with a sheepish smile as he stepped out of the butler's way. He caught the door and held it open for Darien as he carried a silver tray into the room and set it down on the coffee table in front of the fire. 

As Darien let himself out, closing the door behind him, Clark could hear the sound of snickering. 

"What's so funny?" He asked, turning to regard Lex, who had seen the exchange between Clark and the butler. 

"Nothing," Lex said, the word muffled by the hand he was using to stifle his laughter. "Really, Clark. It's nothing. Come sit down and drink your hot chocolate." 

As Clark crossed to the sofa by the fire, he could see Lex still studying his present, fingering the gold ribbon on the top. 

"It's not a bomb or anything, if that's what you're wondering," he said with a chuckle as he dropped down onto the sofa. 

"Hmm? Oh, no, I didn't think that. No," Lex said absently. Completely disregarding Clark's entreaties to wait until Clark had left to open his present, Lex caught one tail of the bow in his fingers and pulled. 

"Lex, you said you wouldn't --!" Clark protested. "I don't know if you --" 

The length of ribbon came undone and fell into his lap, coiling up like a gold serpent. Turning it over, he slipped his finger in between the seam of paper and the scotch tape, breaking the delicate seal. 

Placing the opened present in his lap, he pulled away filmy layers of tissue paper and set them aside, lifting his present out of the shell of wrapping paper. A knitted cap. Black. 

"I hope you like it, 'cause I can't take it back," Clark said, grinning. 

"Huh? Why not?" Lex asked, setting the wrapping paper aside as well. 

"I made it," he said, trying desperately not to fidget, trying even more desperately not to ask Lex if he liked it, terrified that he wouldn't. 

"You... made this? For me?" Lex's brows furrowed as his thumbs smoothed over the cap, its fine, feather soft yarn gleaming in the firelight. 

"Yeah. Well, okay... my mom kind of helped. She found the pattern for me and everything... and I started it... then, when she saw how it was going, she kind of took over." Clark admitted bashfully. "You can see the parts I did: they're crooked... and I think I missed some loops. I just figured you could use it." 

"It's great, Clark. Really. Thank you," Lex looked up and smiled. "And thank your mom for me, too. Tell her I love it." 

"Okay," Clark smiled brightly, deeply relieved, as he reached for the mug of hot chocolate. 

"But I didn't get you anything, Clark," he said apologetically, brows pinched. 

Clark's smile was as sincere and open as before. "Yeah, you did." At that, Lex's eyebrow arched up sharply and Clark ducked his head, eyes fixed on the white froth of marshmallows floating in a sea of rich, steaming chocolate. 

"This is... this is really good," Clark murmured, nodding to the mug he held. 


End file.
